Medieval and Early Post- Medieval Holy Wells
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MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST- MEDIEVAL HOLY WELLS A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2011 Prepared by Dyfed Archaeological TrustFor For Cadw MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST -MEDIEVAL HOLY WELLS A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2011 DYFED ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST RHIF YR ADRODDIAD / REPORT NO.2012/7 RHIF Y PROSIECT / PROJECT RECORD NO. 100735 MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL HOLY WELLS: A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2011 Gan / By MIKE INGS Paratowyd yr adroddiad yma at ddefnydd y cwsmer yn unig. Ni dderbynnir cyfrifoldeb gan Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Dyfed Cyf am ei ddefnyddio gan unrhyw berson na phersonau eraill a fydd yn ei ddarllen neu ddibynnu ar y gwybodaeth y mae’n ei gynnwys The report has been prepared for the specific use of the client. Dyfed Archaeological Trust Limited can accept no responsibility for its use by any other person or persons who may read it or rely on the information it contains. Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Dyfed Cyf Dyfed Archaeological Trust Limited Neuadd y Sir, Stryd Caerfyrddin, Llandeilo, Sir The Shire Hall, Carmarthen Street, Llandeilo, Gaerfyrddin SA19 6AF Carmarthenshire SA19 6AF Ffon: Ymholiadau Cyffredinol 01558 823121 Tel: General Enquiries 01558 823121 Adran Rheoli Treftadaeth 01558 823131 Heritage Management Section 01558 823131 Cwmni cyfyngedig (1198990) ynghyd ag elusen gofrestredig (504616) yw’r Ymddiriedolaeth. The Trust is both a Limited Company (No. 1198990) and a Registered Charity (No. 504616) CADEIRYDD CHAIRMAN: C R MUSSON MBE B Arch FSA MIFA. MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL HOLY WELLS: A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2011 CONTENTS 1 SUMMARY 3 INTRODUCTION 4 PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 5 METHODOLOGY 6 RESULTS 7 – 8 REFERENCES 9 GAZETTEER 10 1 2 MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL HOLY WELLS: A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2011 SUMMARY The medieval and early post-medieval holy wells project forms an element of the Cadw grant-aided medieval and early post-medieval threat related assessment project. A desk-based scoping project aimed to identify all the medieval and early post-medieval holy well sites on the Historic Environment Record (HER), providing an indication of total numbers, numbers of sites represented by documents or place-names and which sites are scheduled. The initial scoping project identified a list of 196 sites that required a desktop appraisal – all sites that had some kind of physical presence, had good documentary evidence or were scheduled ancient monuments (SAMs) were included. During the course of the project this number was amended to 188 sites, and field visits were subsequently made to 96 sites. Approximately half of this number was located in Pembrokeshire, the other half split fairly evenly between Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. This weighting towards the west may be the result of a couple of factors – the presence of the main focal point for pilgrimages to St. Davids and the local knowledge of Francis Jones, from whose book “The Holy Wells of Wales” so many of our records originate, who was born and spent the first thirty years of his life in the county. The level of preservation of the visited sites varied enormously, with some displaying a continuation of use from the medieval period, or earlier, and others neglected, forgotten or lost. During the survey, nine sites that currently have no statutory protection were identified to be of borderline National/Regional significance. A further two sites that have listed building status have been identified as potentially requiring additional protection. 3 INTRODUCTION In 2010, Dyfed Archaeological Trust undertook a Cadw grant-aided scoping study of medieval and post-medieval sites and landscapes (Davis 2010), part of a pan-Wales project (undertaken by all four Welsh Archaeological Trusts). The aim of this study was to identify all medieval and post-medieval sites recorded on the HER that have not been the subject of a previous threat-related assessment and to categorise them by site type. „Holy Well‟ was one of the site types identified. To be considered within the study, these sites had to be associated with a named saint and/or have healing properties. It also had to retain some structural remains that pre-dated 1750. The primary sorting exercise identified the following site types within the HER: Holy Well (200) Well Chapel/Chapel (6) Well Chapel (2) Holy Well/Chapel (1) Holy Well/Boundary marker (1) Holy Well/Bath house (1) Well/Holy Well (1) Well (307) Spring (16) A sample revealed that very few of these 537 records had a description, although most of the „holy wells‟ were recorded as having some form of physical presence. Many of the 307 „well‟ sites have no religious significance and the few that do should be properly listed as „holy well‟. Other types of sites in this broad category are potentially of significance but are few in number. 196 sites were initially identified from this list as requiring a desk-top appraisal, of which 19 are SAMs and/or listed buildings. It was proposed that some 50% of this total would be visited in the field, including the SAMs, in order to ascertain the criteria and quality of surviving remains. The HER entries for all 196 sites would be updated and enhanced. Acting on the results of the scoping study, the Trust applied to Cadw for grant-aid to undertake a threat-related assessment of holy wells in southwest Wales (Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire). This application was successful and the project, including fieldwork, was undertaken in 2011. 4 PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The main aim of this project is to use the HER, National Monument Record, secondary sources and field visits to assess the potential for enhancing the schedule of ancient monuments with medieval or early post-medieval holy well sites. The overall project‟s aims are: • Assessment of the archaeological significance of holy wells in both a regional and national perspective; • Assessment of the vulnerability of this element of the archaeological resource, review of scheduling, and recommendations for future management strategies; and • Enhancement of the regional HER and Extended National Database. The project‟s objectives are: • To identify all holy wells which require further assessment; • To collate existing documentary evidence for the sites; • To carry out a field assessment of those sites where necessary; • To incorporate all the information into a database and enhance the Dyfed HER; and • To advise Cadw on those sites which are of national value and currently without statutory protection. 5 METHODOLOGY The scoping study collated a list of sites that could potentially require a desk-top appraisal and possible field visit. This „snapshot‟ of the data held within the Dyfed HER was filtered to accept all „Holy Well‟ and „Well‟ sites of medieval and post-medieval date; and all sites of unknown date. The resulting record was further filtered to remove sites that: Are only known from place-name evidence Where the documentary evidence for location is vague Post-date AD1750 Are early medieval sites (visited as part of the early medieval project) Had no religious significance Sites that possessed the following criteria were included: Religious significance Some kind of physical presence Good documentary evidence available SAM status Additionally, 307 sites classified as „Well‟ but with no apparent religious significance were also investigated. Some of these were included if they are known by religious names, for example Ffynnon- Fair (PRN 12389 in Ceredigion), if the „Broadclass‟ field in the HER is „Religious, Ritual, Funerary, if they are listed in Francis Jones‟s The Holy Wells of Wales (1954) or if they are associated with religious sites (churches, chapels etc.) Following this analysis a list of 196 sites that required a desktop appraisal emerged and a further 6 sites were added during the course of the project. The appraisal revealed that 13 of these sites were duplicate records, leaving a total of 189 sites to be assessed for field visits. Of these, 6 are designated Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAM) and 2 are located within the scheduled area of more extensive monuments - Ffynnon Llygad (PRN 2637) is on the southern defences of Clegyr-Boia prehistoric enclosure (SAM PE109) and St. Leonard‟s Well (PRN 3311) is below the ramparts of Rudbaxton Rath (SAM PE101). One site, St. Non‟s Well (PRN 2727), is a Guardianship Ancient Monument. In addition, 14 sites are Grade II listed, including 3 SAMs; St. Govan‟s Well (PRN 1268), Llanllawer Sainted Well (PRN 2552) and Higgon‟s Well (PRN 4541). Only 12 „well‟ sites were identified as having a religious significance and required further analysis. The desktop appraisal collated all the available information on each site as held in the Dyfed Archaeological Trust Historic Environment Record (HER). This included reference to the 1st and 2nd edition Ordnance Survey maps, tithe maps, SAM and Listed Building records, Ordnance Survey record cards, Royal Commission inventories and archived reports. The information provided on the Royal Commission for Historic Buildings and Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) coflein website and the Cymdeithas Ffynhonnau Cymru website was also utilised. Of the secondary sources looked at, the most comprehensive is Francis Jones‟s guide The Holy Wells of Wales (1954), which still remains the standard text on the subject. 6 RESULTS A list of potential field visits was generated through the desktop appraisal. Sites identified only from place-name evidence, those with insufficient information to ascertain their location and those reported lost due to subsequent development were filtered out. The SAMs were included for field visits as a control to gauge potential criteria for recommending the possible scheduling of other sites. One site, Capel Erbach; Capel Herbach (PRN 646) had recently been visited during the Cadw Medieval and early post-medieval churches and chapels project of 2010-11. Numerous sites listed as a „Holy Well‟ within the HER had no description, having been included from cartographic evidence or a listing in Jones‟s guide, so it was not known whether anything survived or not.